shencottah

Display of Ignorance

2012-01-30T11:49:00.000+05:30

The New Indian Express (and many other newspapers too, Link to The Hindu item) reported on 26th January, 2012:

According to Markandey Katju, till recently a Supreme Court judge, Salman Rushdie is a "poor" and "substandard writer" who would have remained largely unknown but for his controversial book Satanic Verses.

Labeling a writer as poor and substandard is based on one's personal yardstick and quality measures. No problem there. What strikes me here is "remained largely unknown but for"!! Is it right to conclude that one displays ignorance when factually not-correct things are mixed with subjective opinions to create media-ripples? Mr. Katju is also the chairman, Press Council of India.
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Weekend Links

2011-09-10T06:22:00.002+05:30

1. How to identify people by place names? For example, Indian, Annapolitan, etc. http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-rules-for-identifying-people-by-place-names/

2. The Great Bank Robbery by Taleb and Spitznagel: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/taleb1/English

3. Financial Complexity at the Aleph Blog: http://alephblog.com/2011/09/02/financial-complexity-part-1/

4. Debate between Paul Krugman and Steve Landsburg. http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2011/09/beautiful_discu.html

5. Mathematics and it effect on communications: http://mogadalai.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/mathematics-and-its-effect-on-communication/

6. Did Einstein discover E=mc²? http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/46941

7. Mankiw's 10 principles of Economics: http://www.swlearning.com/economics/mankiw/principles2e/principles.html

8. Questions and Answers at The Chicago Manual of Style Online: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/new/new_questions01.html

9. On popularity of data analysis software. http://sites.google.com/site/r4statistics/popularity

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The style sheet Hemingway appreciated

2011-07-23T08:22:00.004+05:30

Hemingway told a reporter in 1940,"...the best rules I ever learned for business of writing." (about the style sheet of the Kansas City Star)

Few of those rules:

Use short sentences.
Use short first paragraphs.
Eliminate every superfluous word
Be careful of the word “also.”
Be careful of the word “only.”

Hat tip: http://www.futilitycloset.com/2011/06/20/basic-training/

Hemingway's page at Kansas City Star: http://www.kansascity.com/hemingway/

Style Sheet: http://www.kansascity.com/static/pdfs/Hemingway_style_sheet.pdf

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Final journey: Guiding to the Burrow

2011-07-20T11:31:00.003+05:30

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_cockroach_wasp :
( You may want to read first before watching )

...is known for its unusual reproductive behavior, which involves stinging a cockroach and using it as a host for its larvae...

...A 2003 study[2] using radioactive labeling demonstrated that the wasp stings precisely into specific ganglia of the roach. It delivers an initial sting to a thoracic ganglion and injects venom to mildly and reversibly paralyze the front legs of its victim. This facilitates the second venomous sting at a carefully chosen spot in the roach's head ganglia (brain), in the section that controls the escape reflex...

...The wasp proceeds to chew off half of each of the roach's antennae.[1] Researchers believe that the wasp chews off the antenna to replenish fluids or possibly to regulate the amount of venom because too much could kill and too little would let the victim recover before the larva has grown. The wasp, which is too small to carry the roach, then leads the victim to the wasp's burrow, by pulling one of the roach's antennae in a manner similar to a leash. Once they reach the burrow, the wasp lays a white egg, about 2 mm long, on the roach's abdomen. It then exits and proceeds to fill in the burrow entrance with pebbles, more to keep other predators out than to keep the roach in...

(Hat tip to DR)

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Writing Tips from Maria Gardiner & Hugh Kearns

2011-07-07T05:53:00.003+05:30

From the article of Maria Gardiner & Hugh Kearns in Nature:

Write before you feel ready — because you might never feel ready. It's amazing how people magically feel ready when there is an imminent deadline.
Don't wait to have a clear picture of the paper. As you start putting down your ideas, you may actually clarify them.
Snack write — work in short, frequent bursts instead of waiting to sit down for big blocks of time. Those blocks hardly ever come, and when they do, they don't usually get used very productively.
Set specific times in your schedule for writing — don't leave it to chance, because chances are it won't happen.
Writing means putting new words on the page or substantially rewriting old words. It does not mean editing, reading, referencing or formatting — and it definitely does not mean composing e-mails.
If you refrain from writing because you worry that what you write won't be good enough, try noting the adage that to write well, you first have to write.
To really increase the quality and quantity of your writing, get feedback from mentors and colleagues — it can be painful, but it works.

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Sufi comics

2011-05-27T00:33:00.000+05:30

Muhammed Ali Vakil's book on Sufi comics:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Sufi-stories-in-comic-format/Article1-691927.aspx

http://www.flipkart.com/b/books/40-sufi-comics-mohammed-ali-book-1456461273

His website: http://www.vakil.org/

You can read online here: http://issuu.com/mohammedalivakil/docs/40_sufi_comics

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Human body 3D visual search tool

2011-05-11T12:58:00.004+05:30

Healthline and GE have launched Bodymaps - Human body 3D visual search tool.

http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/

http://www.healthymagination.com/blog/healthline-bodymaps-the-human-body-in-3-d/

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US Senate Report on Financial Crisis

2011-04-14T11:45:00.007+05:30

The United States Senate released a report yesterday titled, "Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse". According to The New York Times, the report has a description about business practices and reckless activities among firms, banks, federal regulators that has a bearing on the crisis.

The pdf file of the 650-page report can be downloaded from this link at FT:

www.ft.com/cms/fc7d55c8-661a-11e0-9d40-00144feab49a.pdf

NYT also has an interactive page for the report.

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Modern Science Writings

2011-04-13T10:43:00.000+05:30

In the book "The Oxford book of modern science writing", edited by Richard Dawkins, the selections are from the following books (some are articles or just poems). You may want to see how many of them you can finish in 2011 in its original glory. Please comment if there are any typos and errors in the compilation.

Alan Turing:::::Computing machinery and intelligence

Albert Einstein:::::Ideas and opinions

Alister Hardy:::::The open sea

Arthur Eddington:::::The expanding universe

Barbara & George Gamow:::::Said Ryle to Hoyle

Brian Greene:::::The elegant universe

C P Snow:::::Foreword to Hardy's Apology

Carl Sagan:::::The demon-haunted world

Carl Sagan:::::Pale blue dot

Claude E Shannon & Warren Weaver:::::The mathematical theory of communication

Colin Blakemore:::::The mind machine

D'Arcy Thompson:::::On growth and form

Daniel Dennett:::::Darwin's dangerous idea

Daniel Dennett:::::Consciousness explained

David Deutsch:::::The fabric of reality

David Lack:::::The life of the robin

Donald C Johanson & Maitland A Edey:::::Lucy-Beginnings of humankind

Douglas Hofstadter:::::Godel, Escher, Bach-The eternal golden braid

Edward O. Wilson:::::The diversity of life

Ernst Mayr:::::The growth of biological thought

Erwin Schrodinger:::::What is life?

Francis Crick:::::Life itself

Francis Crick:::::What mad pursuit

Fred Hoyle:::::Man in the universe

Freeman Dyson:::::Disturbing the universe

G C Williams:::::Adaptation and natural selection

G G Simpson:::::The meaning of evolution

G H Hardy:::::A mathematician's apology

Garrett Hardin:::::The tragedy of the commons

George Gamow:::::Mr. Tompkins

George Gaylord Simpson:::::The meaning of evolution

Helena Cronin:::::The ant and the peacock

Ian Stewart:::::The miraculous jar

J A Wheeler & Kenneth Ford:::::Geons, black holes and quantum foam

J B S Haldane:::::On being the right size

J B S Haldane:::::Cancer's a funny thing

J Robert Oppenheimer:::::War and the nations

Jacob Bronowski:::::The identity of man

James Jeans:::::The mysterious universe

James Watson:::::Avoid boring people

Jared Diamond:::::The rise and fall of the third chimpanzee

John Maynard Smith:::::The importance of the nervous system in the evolution of animal flight

John Tyleer Bonner:::::Life cycles

Jonathan Kingdon:::::Self-made man

Julian Huxley:::::Essays of a biologist

Lancelot Hogden:::::Mathematics for the million

Lee Smolin:::::The life of the cosmos

Lewis Thomas:::::Seven wonders

Lewis Wolpert:::::The unnatural nature of science

Loren Eiseley:::::The immense journey

Mark Ridley:::::The explanation of organic diversity

Martin Gardner:::::The fantastic combinations of John Conway's new solitaire game 'Life'

Martin Rees:::::Just six numbers

Matt Ridley:::::Genome

Max F Perutz:::::A passion for crystals

Nicholas Humphrey:::::One self - a meditation on the unity of consciousness

Niko Tinbergen:::::Curious Naturalists

Oliver Sacks:::::Uncle Tungsten

Paul Davies:::::The goldilocks enigma

Per Bak:::::How nature works

Peter Atkins:::::Creation revisited

Peter Medawar:::::Science and literature

Peter Medawar:::::Darwin's illness

Peter Medawar:::::The phenomenon of mind

Primo Levi:::::The periodic table

R A Fisher:::::The genetical theory of natural selection

Rachel Carson:::::The sea around us

Richard Feynman:::::The character of physical law

Richard Fortey:::::Trilobite!

Richard Fortey:::::Life - an unauthorized biography

Richard Gregory:::::Mirrors in mind

Richard Leakey & Roger Lewin:::::Origins reconsidered

Robert Trivers:::::Social Evolution

Roger Penrose:::::The emperor's new mind

Russell Stannard:::::The time and space of uncle Albert

S Chandrasekhar:::::Truth and beauty

Stephan Hawking:::::A brief history of time

Stephan Jay Gould:::::Hen's teeth and horse's toes

Steve Jones:::::The language of the genes

Steven Pinker:::::The language instinct

Steven Pinker:::::How the mind works

Steven Weinberg:::::Dreams of a final theory

Sydney Brenner:::::Theortical biology in the third millennium

Theodosius Dobzhansky:::::Mankind evolving

W D Hamilton:::::Geometry for the selfish herd

W D Hamilton:::::Narrow roads of geneland

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Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-31T17:22:00.002+05:30

Dear Readers,
I wish you all a very happy new year. Do come again.
Shencottah

Create E-books from Wikipedia

2010-12-16T11:17:00.003+05:30

You can create e-books from Wikipedia pages. This article in Business Line talks about it. These are help pages from Wikipedia:
1. For beginners
2. For experts
3. FAQ
The tool is "Book Creator".

Old knowledge, Old revelations, New Society

2010-11-29T14:11:00.006+05:30

Well, I am posting after a long silence. The word 'silence' brings me this SMS joke which Gurumurthy also mentioned in his article - Sonia's certificate, PM's ultimate humiliation.

First, the joke:

Manmohan Singh breaks his silence on 2G (after a push from CAG and SC) by stating that he knows a lot about 2G - SoniaG and RahulG.

Jokes apart, some excerpts from that article.

... PM admitted that Raja had told him that he was only following the policy laid down previously — virtually approving the fraud. It needs no seer to say that to say the loot was no secret affair. It was daylight robbery; as transparent as the PM had wanted it to be. Not just Raja, the PM also must be questioned on why he objected first; why he fell into silence later; why he acquiesced subsequently and why he defended it finally...
... there were demands that Raja resign, he retorted, “why should I resign? I had done everything in consultation with the PM”.The PM did not deny that statement. But, months later, on May 24, 2010, the PM said that Raja had “discussed” the issue with him. Any difference between Raja asserting that he had “consulted” the PM and the PM admitting that Raja “discussed” with him? ...
... There is no other way PM’s November objection could become a meek non-objection in January. Who except Sonia Gandhi could turn the PM’s strong objection into a meek non-objection? And who else could make the PM defend Raja in May 2010...
... The loot is too huge for Raja. The main beneficiaries are obviously hiding behind him. Raja could never have defied the PM on the strength of the DMK alone. The DMK could never have ditched the UPA on this issue. The fear that the DMK would walk out of UPA could not be the reason for the PM to acquiesce. The fraudulent venture must have had the backing of someone more powerful than the PM. That only explains Raja’s defiance of the PM; and the PM acquiescence first and finally his defence of the deal itself...

If looks-like-Mr.Clean is like this, think of people who are not so "clean". Oh! that includes the citizens too!!!
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You think you know how to respond?

2010-08-20T11:15:00.008+05:30

Supreme Court: Hey Centre! Distribute food grains for free to the poorest instead of allowing it to rot due to lack of storage facility.

Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar: Oops! We cannot distribute them freely.

That was the response!!! What about the rot? What about the storage facility? What about issues in managing it? Oh! let's watch cricket, Pawar.
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Quota generations!!

2010-08-10T14:28:00.003+05:30

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur was secretly — and illegally — keeping aside a discretionary admission quota for children of its teachers and staff for over four decades, admitting dozens of students to seats they failed to secure through the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination - Read further here at Hindustan Times.

That is what has happened, of all places, at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur. For over 40 years now, it has now been discovered, the faculty at IIT-Kharagpur have been giving special preference to their own children in admissions to the prestigious institution. They did not have to compete with the rest — more privileged or less. While at one level the faculty has fought caste quotas in higher studies, they have been quietly using quotas for their own children. (From Business Standard)

Got the above links from here (Thanks Ram)

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Shakespeare told and retold

2010-07-26T11:00:00.002+05:30

National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru, in association with The British Council and Bangalore Film Society presents Shakespeare told and retold (Film festival of Shakespeare's films) from 24th July to 18th September, 2010

(National Gallery of Modern Art, Manekyavelu Mansion, 49, Palace Road, Bengaluru – 560 052, Tel: 91-080-2234 2338, Tele Fax: 91-080-22201027, Email: ngma.bengaluru@gmail.com)

24July Saturday 3pm
Macbeth, 146 min
Directed by Jack Gold

25July Sunday 11.30am
Serbian Lady Macbeth, 93 min
Directed by Andrzej Wajda

31July Saturday 3pm
Throne of Blood,110 min
Directed by Kurosawa

1August Sunday 11.30am
As You Like It, 150 min
Directed by Basil Coleman

7August Saturday 3pm
Romeo and Juliet, 168 min
Directed by Alvin Rakoff

8August Sunday 11.30am
Romeo Juliet and Darkness, 92 min
Directed by Jiri Weiss

21August Saturday 3pm
Othello, 205 min
Directed by Jonathan Miller

22August Sunday 11.30am
Othello, 91 min
Directed by Orson Welles

29August Sunday 11.30am
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 116 min
Directed by Elijah Moshinsky

4September Saturday 3pm
Hamlet, 212 min
Directed by Rodney Bennet

5September Sunday 11.30am
Hamlet Does Business, 86 min
Directed by Aki Kaurismaki

12September Sunday 11.30am
Rosencratz & Guildenstern are Dead, 117 min
Directed by Tom Stoppard
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Symbol for Indian Rupee

2010-07-16T11:30:00.005+05:30

I do not like this symbol. It lacks creativity, representativeness, and innovation. Please do not ask me to design one with all and more qualities. Congrats, Udaya Kumar. He has designed this, and played a nice joke unwittingly.

Like many other ugly things, I know I have to use this too irrespective of what I feel. Who cares, anyway? How does it matter when the reality shows a heavy skew in development, distribution, management, allocation, sharing, standard of life across the country.
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Vidya's dance programme

2010-05-25T15:59:00.003+05:30

Ms. Vidya Dinakaran is performing at M O P Vaishnav College, Nungambakkam High Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai under the auspices of V D S Arts Academy on 28th May, 2010 at 6.30pm.

Chola inscriptions found

2010-05-18T14:29:00.002+05:30

The Hindu reports about the findings of chola inscriptions (10th century) near Kaveripakkam.

It is quite interesting to note Kaveripakkam is originally known as Kavidhipakkam, Kavidhi is the title conferred on an army commander.

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Vishy Anand retains the crown

2010-05-12T14:12:00.004+05:30

Anand defeated Topalov in the World Championship Title match 2010.

You can read a nice piece on Anand here.
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Feeling positive is not enough ...

2010-05-06T09:42:00.003+05:30

Chomsky in one of his 1993 interviews was asked "Do you feel positive about the future?".

His answer:

Whether a person feels positive or not is kind of a comment on their personality and of no great interest. You can find positive signs or you can find negative signs. How you evaluate them depends on what happened in your life recently or something like that. There's no objective way to do it. The important thing is to try to commit yourself to making the positive signs more real. Suppose that you felt that there's 99 percent of a probability that human civilization is going to be destroyed in the next hundred years, but one percent chance that it won't be, and that one percent offers some opportunities to do something. Well, you commit yourself to that one percent.

(from Chomsky for beginners by David Cogswell)

Bharatanatyam Programme by Vidya

2010-02-05T11:46:00.006+05:30

Ms. Vidya Dinakaran is performing at R. K. Swamy Hall, 5, Sundareswarar Street, Mylapore, Chennai-4 under the auspices of Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha on 9th February. She also blogs: http://natyavidya.blogspot.com/ and http://natyavidya.wordpress.com/

Image Courtesy: From her blog post

Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

2010-01-13T12:12:00.004+05:30

The entire collection is available here at Advaita Ashrama website.

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Applauses or Herd Clappings?

2010-01-06T13:54:00.009+05:30

I attended Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan's talk yesterday at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, titled Baroda to Cambridge: A Life in Science.

No, I am not going to summarize the talk as excellent summary and news items are available at Abi, The Hindu, and Mint. I could not enter the J.N. Tata Auditorium even at 3:20pm for 4pm talk. Somehow I entered and stood near the door. My friend Hisrin said we better go to one those projection rooms. I was happy with a projection screen kept at one of the seminar rooms in the auditorium complex. The audio system was quite bad but comfortable seating had overcome other things!! No, I am not going to complain about all that!!

I noticed a queer thing in applauses. When there were applause in the main auditorium, there were hardly any in our room. Normally I make only silent applause. I am sure if we had got seats inside, most of us would have clapped little boldly and loudly. I wonder why.

Is it because that the knowledge of projection creates a gap between the event and the emotional participation? Is it because the awareness that we are actually not inside the auditorium has produced an aloofness? Is it a kind of indifference since we know we are "not" part of the fun?

Quite interesting indeed.

Importance of Stupidity

2009-12-17T10:58:00.003+05:30

In the recent issue of Current Science, P. Balaram writes about stupidity and success (link to pdf file) in scientific research. He says,

... There seems to be little discussion within institutions and departments on the need to promote a collective approach towards building up an intellectual climate that promotes scholarship. An environment which appreciates the ‘importance of stupidity’ (especially ‘productive stupidity’) would be wonderfully energizing. Unfortunately, we have gone overboard in ‘incentivizing’ research ...

He quotes the essay by Martin A. Schwartz on the importance of stupidity in scientific research. Schwartz writes,

... we don’t do a good enough job of teaching our students how to be productively stupid – that is, if we don’t feel stupid it means we’re not really trying. I’m not talking about ‘relative stupidity’, in which the other students in the class actually read the material, think about it and ace the exam, whereas you don’t. I’m also not talking about bright people who might be working in areas that don’t match their talents. Science involves confronting our ‘absolute stupidity’. That kind of stupidity is an existential fact, inherent in our efforts to push our way into the unknown ...

It is quite interesting to find ways to communicate this confrontation of absolute stupidity in a class room. That's less harder than feeling stupid.

Grand Challenges of Indian Science

2009-12-17T10:48:00.003+05:30

According to R. A. Mashelkar's recent article in The Hindu, the grand challenges are as follows:

To build some irreverence in the educational system
To create innovation ecosystem
To create truly innovative scientists
To pose big problems
To promote out of the box thinking

Primary education, modes and delivery of our education system do not figure in these "grand" challenges. May be it is now fashionable to think big, do big, dream big, etc. We should first learn to do simple things elegantly and effectively.

A Habit of Lies

2009-12-02T10:06:00.003+05:30

John A Hewitt writes on his website,

This site is about the way scientists cheat, by falsifying the scientific literature and rigging debate to include and acknowledge only "acceptable" opinion. It is derived from my as yet unpublished book "A Habit of Lies." The particular topic is taken from my own experiences in the field of cell biology but I think the practices described are widespread.

You can read A Habit of Lies here.

Strand Book Festival

2009-11-27T09:42:00.002+05:30

The Strand Book Festival is back.

Venue: Basava Bhavan (Opposite Hotel Chalukya & Sophia School), Bangalore
Period: From 26th November (Thursday) To 13th December (Sunday)
(Incl. 3 Sundays)
Time: 10am - 8.30pm

Address of the book shop:

Strand Book Stall,
Manipal Centre, Dickenson Road, Bangalore-42
Phone: 25580000/2222, 30577661-3

They have a website too: www.strandbookstall.com. But when I had visited it Google flashed me the following message:

What is the current listing status for strandbookstall.com?
Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.
Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 3 time(s) over the past 90 days.

I have written to Strand Book Stall about this.

To this blog's friends: I am back with my post after a long time. You will, hopefully, now see posts regularly :-)

A Room With No Exit

2008-10-06T16:46:00.000+05:30

Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out.

-Thomas Cardinal Wolsey (1471-1530)

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Levels of Confusions

2008-08-17T13:51:00.002+05:30

We do not know many things. We seem to learn few things as time passes but there is this nagging feeling of incomprehensibility. Here is a quote from Oksendal's Stochastic Differential Equations:

We have not succeeded in answering all our problems. The answers we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions. In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things.

- Posted outside the mathematics reading room, Tromso University

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Going Through the Past

2008-08-17T13:44:00.003+05:30

What is the role of evolution of ideas in communicating those ideas? Here is a quote for us to think about such issues.

The task of the educator is to make the child's spirit pass again where its forefathers have gone, moving rapidly through certain stages but suppressing none of them. In this regard, the history of science must be our guide.

- Poincare

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We deserve this, don't we?

2008-06-12T14:46:00.004+05:30

Rahul eats Puri, Curry, and Daal.
Cat stuck on the Roof
Amitabh Bacchan catches cold
Commissioner's pet dog goes missing and later found

These are some of the breaking news of our media!!! Read more here.
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Finding the Heaven

2008-06-12T10:56:00.004+05:30

Who has not found the Heaven — below —
Will fail of it above.
- Emily Dickinson

I saw those waves splashing against stones with force that could not have been imagined. Driblets were distributed in space. I tried to find a face in those bantam drops. A face that lives amidst the silence of pleaching waves. It is a game of hide-and-seek.

Hide! Hide! I stood for a long time.

Seek! Seek! I stood for a long time until a sparge of dribs caressed my skin. When they diffused and dried up, I heard the sea chuckled.

It is a game of glide-and-eek.
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Pay Rs.2 and get Rs.700 - the CPM way

2008-06-11T15:23:00.006+05:30

The Economic Times reports,

... It (CPM) already has two prime properties in Delhi — one in the Gole Market area and the other on Rouse Avenue. While the revolutionary activities around the country are being dictated from the AKG Bhawan in Gole Market, the BT Ranadive Bhawan houses the party’s trade union wing CITU’s central office. The new plots that the CPM has acquired are on the Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg, close to Rouse Avenue. The new plots, spread over 2,850 sqm have been allotted to the CPM for Rs 60 lakh, according to sources. The market value of these plots is around the range of Rs 45-50 crore.

... The CPM’s grand land acquisition in Delhi clearly indicates a cosy arrangement between the Congress and the Left. The Left, which does not spare any opportunity to amplify its differences with the Congress and the government, has been quite successful in having its way in important postings. Rivals of the CPM have been alleging that the party is benefiting hugely from the patronage dispensation system of the Centre.

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When Light Enhances Darkness ...

2008-06-06T11:06:00.003+05:30

A dark room always invoke an inexplicable state of feeling that something is going to happen. I might call it curiosity. But is it that? The objects in the dark room are invisible. A death lurking in that darkness is certainly invisible. Invisibility gives invincibility. Death is anyway invisible even during the day. Death would be invisible for years. The moment it shows its face, it no longer evokes fear. Fear becomes fact.

I met a cheerful girl nearly two decades ago. She came to the bus-stand to receive me in the city of Ananda. Before my friend introduced me to her, she started talking about many things that included physics, food, books, and films. During the next five days, we, three of us, had many occasions to discuss whatever we like. That was a luxury. I cannot do that now. People are so busy in their lives, it is difficult for them to listen to something outside their interests. Time just flew then without leaving any scar but making every moment magical. When I had to return back, it was quite tough for me to let go of those moments. Those are magical moments. They could fly away without actually leaving you.

I got a letter from that cheerful and innocent girl after a few days. I replied immediately. I got her reply after a couple of days. Those days were days of post-cards. I think I still have some of those post-cards she had then written, somewhere in my dark room. As it always happens, our correspondence became less frequent. Almost stopped after six months.

I met her again few years back. Thanks to my friend (yes, the same friend who came before) who tried hard to find me again - yes, we too had lost the thread. How we got lost and found each other in contact again is a story in itself which I have to record it sometime. Loss never stays. Loss never stays forever. I met him again in the city of Malgudi. When I went to meet him, I met her there again. The same cheerful, innocent, and divine face after all those storms life bestowed on her. Being cheerful is not necessarily being in cheerfulness. She welcomed me with her kids. I met her mother, father, and met everyone I had met two decades ago. Magical moments again.

Life had to go on. It goes on. When I went to my friend's house, in the city of Ice House, a few months after those Malgudi days, I spoke to her over the phone. She was then in United States. The voice sounded a bit tired but the cheer in the spirits was there.

Death is invisible. Invisibility invokes invincibility. It struck her from behind. She had back-ache. It went into her blood. The cruel hands of death silently reached the source. They created beautiful patterns at micro-levels without bothering about its brutal effects at macro-levels. She is no more. Our hearts blame the higher powers. Our hearts are now full of doubts befriended by questions that have no answers.

When death makes itself visible, it becomes more invincible than before. Our minds and hearts are left alone to search for something that gives meaning for this seemingly meaningless life that flows forever and more.

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New Blog on Bharatanatyam

2008-05-14T12:09:00.003+05:30

http://natyavidya.wordpress.com/

I happened to know about this blog a couple of days ago from Vidya's father. Vidya is a cute, little, budding Bharatanatyam exponent. There are three posts so far, on Anusham Dance Group and Kalakshetra, but more instructive and interesting posts, I believe, are planned for future. Keep a watch on this blog.

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School means leisure!!

2008-05-04T14:52:00.004+05:30

The title says "mother knows best" but this article is about schooling - not the conventional one. It is about how some parents adopt different ways to educate their children.

From the article,

"People see their children suffering in various ways, bored with school, being bullied, insulted and demeaned by teachers. My feeling, based on my interaction with the online group over the past seven years, is that probably more people are turning to home education. I do know that about six people have joined the group every week—mostly those who are home-educating their children or are seeking the courage to do so."

"The Motwanis walk down to the Gateway of India every day. Whatever catches Mahuli’s (their four-and-a-half-year-old daughter) fancy becomes a lesson. A question on why the rocks are visible at certain times of the day and go underwater at others leads to a discussion on tides; an observation of various kinds of animal poop on the Colaba pavements triggers a conversation on scatology."

"It might seem ironical that a home-educated child would find it thrilling to top a competition—antithetical to the very concept of home schooling—but Nadisha (a home educated girl) is quick to point out her priority wasn’t so much to beat 175 others, as it was to give her best."

"Children need a sense of belonging. So, unless it becomes common enough in India, parents need to focus hard on peer interaction. In fact, I think the plus points of regular schools are the break-time or the bus journeys. Without adequate interaction with the outside world, there may be too much of the parents, even a danger of claustrophobia."

"It’s not for every child. Nor is it, obviously, for every parent. But for those for whom it works, it is the most meaningful thing in the world."

Links mentioned in the article

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Dilemma of Dichotomy

2008-05-02T10:55:00.003+05:30

Fritjof Capra was asked,

Can you tell us about a unique experience that changed or shaped your spiritual beliefs?

And Capra's answer,

I have been through many such experiences, but one I would mention was my meeting with Krishnamurti, early on in my career. I had read him extensively, and he was both very convincing and fascinating to me. As I was moving to California after two years of post-doctoral work, I was facing a real problem: how could I embark on a career as a physicist and pursue science, which is about seeking knowledge, while abiding by Krishnamurti’s injunction to free oneself from the known, to go beyond rational teaching? He happened then to come to the University of Santa-Cruz where I was teaching. He was not keen on meeting people beyond his lecture, but as luck would have it, his assistant turned out to be French. I was married to a French woman at the time who befriended him and sure enough, we had an audience with the Master. I told him about my dilemma and without even blinking an eye he said "you are first a human being, only then a scientist". As a human being, we have to go beyond the known in order to deal with our existential problems. Then of course, as a scientist I could pursue knowledge in a more restricted environment. From then on the problem was gone, he had solved my dilemma. I have had that experience several times --- being ready to hear something and someone with a lot of personality and charisma shows up carrying that message, saying the right thing, at the right time.

You may read his full interview at Indian Express website.

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After a long gap ...

2008-05-02T10:32:00.004+05:30

I am posting this after a long gap. Hope no one missed my posts. I did not post the things I had written due to connectivity problems, unwillingness, and various other reasons. Those problems still exist. I could see the grin on my well-wishers' expressive faces which would form a crescent only if all those countenances are placed next to each other. Ugh... Guh... Uhg... Hug... I will slowly initiate my postings again; will nudge my posts here and there to enter the world of web.

Hug. Hug. Hug the post. There comes Capra with Jiddu Krishnamurti.

"Sujatha" is no more ...

2008-02-28T00:26:00.004+05:30

Sujatha passed away few hours back. Here is the news.

Seaside Riffles - 1

2008-01-29T12:30:00.000+05:30

Those buildings seem to be quite close. You cannot walk directly. There is sea between you and the concrete. You can reach there only through a necklace-curvature that turns away and then turns in, thus increasing the span. Those buildings are not close. They are quite far. The sea between us hides the depth of chasm. The curvature hides the drift. No, those buildings are too far. Some hearts and minds are also like these in creating the effects of far-yet-close and close-but-far. The tragedy of the reality is the danger of not being able to see the abyss and the curved relationship. But the breeze, that touches those buildings, now flows through me. The breeze, which comes from the other part of sea, brings me freshness and joy that transcends the deep sea and the curvature. The cool and divine morning air is just good enough to create a feel that forms a bridge with me as a bead.

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Waves whisper

2007-12-26T11:33:00.000+05:30

Waves are today more active. I could hear them speaking with rocks. There are high-rise buildings on the other side which can only see those waves from a distance – just like me. When I sat here for the first time, I was moved by the misty air that had encompassed the buildings, sea, people, cars, buses, etc. Water had been still then. No conversation was there between the rocks and waves. But today is a different day. They are talking. I could hear their whispers. Imagine you have a big sack of rice. You open it and turn upside down on a floor. You hear some sound, right? Waves and rocks are whispering similarly. Once in two minutes. I had to first concentrate to hear their whispers amidst the sound of honks and chats. No. I need not concentrate. Whispers come from this side just like how the noise comes from the other side. The pleasant of those two touch my heart. Whispers. A pair of lovers sits on this side – immersed in their world. An old man in rags is lying. A girl talks loudly to her mother. Few dogs bark at other roaming dogs. Few dogs bark at a small girl with no clothes. Waves still talk to the rocks – wetting them with their words. I have to leave now. When I am about to get up, it suddenly dawns on me - waves are trying to talk to me. Ah! How could I have missed this! Observation too often leads to distraction and inattention. I sit again. Waves tell me the stories of abyss where human existence, survival and extinction become the sound produced by a single rice grain in the turned sack full of rice. They now ask me to get up and leave. I just follow their words.

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This is Lakshman ...

2007-11-29T23:38:00.000+05:30

Here is the photograph of Lakshman.

I have been trying to get a photo with his trademark smile but could not obtain. You can still see a smile in his eyes. Please read these posts, to find out a bit more about Lakshman and his tragic end, written by Guru, Abi, and Shencottah.

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Laa. Sa. Raa Writings

2007-11-07T07:58:00.000+05:30

Thinnai has few Laa. Sa. Raa pieces (in Tamil).

Frontline published the english translation of his story in 2001 - Mud

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Laa. Sa. Raa ---- Melted, Vanished, and Now Flows Forever

2007-11-04T23:40:00.000+05:30

Laalgudi Saptarishi Ramamirtham (Laa. Sa. Raa.) is no more. No more in the form which we always like him to be. He chooses the form which he always likes to present himself - abstract, simple, mysterious, magical, esoteric, loving, affectionate, strong, supple, beautiful, orphic, silent and invisible.

He passed away on October 30, 2007 at the age of 91 (on his 92nd birthday). I came to know about this from Thinnai. It is a shame that I came to know after so many days. I do not know if I have to blame myself for not reading the news with enough attention or the present state of media. It is a personal literary loss to me. I always wanted to meet him. I even called up his home few years back and checked with one of his family members if it was possible to meet him. I was told about his fragile health and asked if it would become an interview. I said it could never become an interview. It might rather become a visit with not even one question asked or one sentence exchanged. But.. But.. the visit never materialised. Meeting Laa. Sa. Raa has joined the list of things-not-done-and-cannot-do-anymore.

But wait!!!

Meeting Laa. Sa. Raa is meeting his words!!

No!

Meeting Laa. Sa. Raa is meeting his words and going beyond them to see what he conveys.

Going beyond them to see what he communicates.

Going beyond them to meet ourselves finally.

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1. Dhalavai Sundaram's interview with Laa. Sa. Raa in 2002 (in Tamil)
2. Photo courtesy: Thinnai and Dhalavai Sundaram's Blog

British Petroleum Fined

2007-11-03T14:08:00.000+05:30

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that BP's (British Petroleum) US subsidiaries has agreed to pay $303 million in fines to settle charges that it manipulated propane markets. Moreover, the other US subsidiaries of the multinational company will pay a record $50 million in criminal fines to settle Clean Air Act requirement (passed in 1990 following the explosion at Union Carbide's chemical plant in Bhopal) charges stemming from fire and explosion at its Texas refinery, and $20 million in criminal fines and restitution for violation of the Clean Water Act relating to oil pipeline leaks in Alaska.

Robert A. Malone, BP America chairman and president, said,

"If our approach to process safety and risk management had been more disciplined and comprehensive, this tragedy could have been prevented. We did not provide our people with systems and processes that would have enabled them to appreciate the risk of a catastrophic release from the F20 blowdown stack and understand the danger of placing occupied trailers so close to it. We deeply regret the loss of life, the injuries, and the community disruption caused by the explosion."

Eric Schaeffer, director of the Environmental Integrity Project, said,

"Let's hope these criminal fines wake up BP's management and force the company to clean up its refineries. BP spends a lot of money advertising itself as a 'green' corporation. Some of that money would be better spent protecting BP's workers and neighbors from the company's own pollution,"

Why should Indian regulators and environmental agencies take note of these?

BP holds 71% holdings in Castrol India Limited. It has a 51% joint venture with Tata Group to participate in the Indian solar energy market. It also trades crude oil, bulk chemicals, and petroleum products in India.

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The Rationalist

2007-10-29T15:04:00.000+05:30

M. Karunanidhi, the present Tamil Nadu Chief-Minister, has always claimed to be the rationalist. An example from his recent interview with Shekhar Gupta might be very enlightening.

He says,

"Jawaharlal Nehru did not accept Ram (as a divine being); he calls him a hero, not a god. C. Rajagopalachari wrote a book called Chakravarthi Thirumagan (The Emperor’s Blessed Son) that says Ram is a prince, not a god. It is not as if only the DMK is saying it."

C. Rajagopalachari did not believe Ram as a God. Why? Because he wrote a book on Ram titled The Emperor's Blessed Son.

Now what is Tirukkural? Please do not say following our rationalist's approach that the rationalist believes that it is a type of painting as he has written a book on Tirukkural titled Kural Oviyam (Kural: A class of couplet, Oviyam: Painting, drawing, art).

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Padams

2007-10-29T14:29:00.000+05:30

Aruna Chandaraju wonders why padams are not heard often?

From The Hindu article:

Chitravina Ravikiran holds:

“Most artistes are daunted by its demands — a super-slow tempo which calls for great breath control, a platinum-like voice which doesn’t lose intensity even when modulated to the thinnest, and a mind capable of grasping its microscopic details.”

Sakuntala Narasimhan:

“Brinda took nearly one year to teach us the famous Sahana padam because it was so difficult.”

Sripada Pinakapani:

“Vilambalaya rendition keeping tautness intact is the vital requirement in padams. And in this age when unnecessarily speedy renditions by performers are common and accepted, where pyrotechnic displays draw applause, and where many students are in a hurry to ascend concert-platforms without acquiring perfect breath-control, where is the atmosphere for padams to flourish?”

(Thanks Manu for bringing this article to my attention - Shencottah.)

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Serve with a Smile from Heart

2007-10-24T11:02:00.000+05:30

Sincere smile in itself is heart-transforming. When people serve food with hearty smile, there are only few other things that can match it in its strength, intensity, and power to transform.

Lakshman is one of them. He works in A-Mess at Indian Institute of Science. His smile is not a customary smile you get to see in some restaurants. He really smiles. If you are not in a hurry, you can feel that his smile is not on his face. It is from his heart.

When he serves from the buffet place, I am sure everyone eats more happily. If you tell him, "enough". He says, "Crispy Dosa, Sir. Take two more." You cannot refuse. You take at least one.

When your turn comes, you see only two idlies on the plate. Two cold idlies. You have to tell some people to bring the new batch of hot idlies. But with Lakshman, even if you are about to take those two idlies because you have to keep up your appointment with someone, he does not allow you to take those. He rather tells, "Just a minute, Sir. Hot idlies are coming." He goes inside to serve us with hot idlies.

Thanks Lakshman for those smiling servings. Lakshman is no more. Mogadalai's tribute is here. He died in a van accident. His wife and daughter died too.

Why did not I write about his smile-and-serve when he was alive? Why did the loss of that initiate this blog-post? Is it because we will know the value of some only when we lose them?

Death is a powerful heart-transformer just like the smile of Lakshman.

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Cough and spit anywhere

2007-10-20T06:17:00.000+05:30

Few months back, our media flashed photos and video clipping of Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav's paan-expectoration when he attended a function where hygiene was supposed to be the main theme. We all must have laughed and once again reinforced our beliefs and biases about persons. The following incident happened two days back inside the Kabini Canteen, Indian Institute of Science.

There was a "research-scholar" sitting in the next table. I was having my Rice+Rasam with my friend. The hot rasam of Kabini was very good especially when you were recovering from fever. Since they keep the rasam and sambar vessels outside, you do not have to ask anyone. Just go and fill the tumbler with rasam. Drink slowly. That seemed to be a very good recipe for recovery. I was relishing my rasam when I was shocked to see our "research-scholar" spitting down. Oops!! This was inside the Kabini Canteen. There are chairs outside too. It is okay if you spit sitting outside as it is on the ground you are spitting. But inside where flooring is done? I was really stunned. He did again. I did not know if I had to go and tell him. We finished our lunch and were about to leave. I showed my friend the deeds of our "scholarly" friend. Then we decided to go and inform him not to spit inside.

I told him,"Please do not spit inside"

He looked at me as if I was curtailing his civic rights.

He said,"Cough comes."

"You could then go out and spit."

"It comes frequently."

"You could still take your food and sit outside."

He just nodded his head but still stayed there. I could not say anything more. I then left the place.
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Derivatives

2007-10-18T10:11:00.000+05:30

When I saw a book on "Derivative Pricing" way back in 1999, it caught my attention immediately. I knew then derivative as limit of certain ratio of infinitesimals, rate of change of something, local property, etc. But what was derivative pricing? I knew certain pricing was based on intersection of demand and supply curves. I wondered if derivatives were used to find the intersection where one could achieve maximum pricing, and hence the name "derivative pricing". Better sense prevailed. I opened the book and read few pages. It opened the door to the world of modern quantitative finance.

But what are derivatives? Derivatives are financial instruments whose worth depends on the value of an underlying asset. You will soon read lots about derivatives in the context of Indian markets.

Here is a book Derivatives: The tools that changed finance by Phelim Boyle and Feidhlim Boyle, written in plain english to make concepts clear. You will not be able to solve Black-Scholes equations after reading this book. But you may appreciate why we have to solve them. The book is available for free download.

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Man Booker Prize 2007 - Announced

2007-10-17T09:57:00.000+05:30

Anne Enright was named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for her novel The Gathering. For more details, read this page.
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Drops of Ganga

2007-10-08T22:26:00.000+05:30

I stumbled upon three tributes to Raja Rao while looking for information about the Telugu writer G. V. Chalam. That is not true, isn't it? When a friend of mine mentioned about the online existence of excerpts from Chalam's Sasirekha, I wanted to find more about him. I told this to my friend CCG. And CCG told me about this literary e-journal. It was while browsing through the archives that I noticed the three tributes to Raja Rao. Here they are:

Letizia Alterno writes about Raja Rao,

"The luminous novelist has passed away on the 8th of July, 2006, at 12.45am. I am told by his wife Susan that he passed away calmly and surrounded by people who loved him. I cannot avoid admitting that I am writing this with a deep sorrow - or dukkha as Raja Rao would call it - affecting my soul. One thing is sure: Raja Rao would never have remained in this world for so long but for the devoted and painstaking care of his adorable wife Susan. In her, he must have found the peace he had been searching for in his novels, as echoes of her personality and character can be heard in Rao's last masterpiece, The Chessmaster and His Moves. She said she still feels his presence so strongly that to her their hearts are one. I could not, therefore, imagine a better person at Rao's bedside at the time of his peaceful death."

Meenakshi Mukherjee writes,

"Going to see him would be for me like making a pilgrimage – I wanted to do that in a duly reverential frame of mind...To me Raja Rao seemed like a hermit living in a lonely garret to pursue a higher quest of the mind oblivious of the consumerism that marked American life...(Once) Shamefacedly I brushed them aside as he went on about the divine status of a woman in Indian society. I kept up my end of the debate trying to tell him that a human status would really be quite enough for the time being. But it was an unequal argument because he was charming, erudite and eloquent and I was not only awkward but also in great awe of him...He lived on a higher intellectual and philosophical plane and could easily have dismissed people like me who knew much less and lived in a limited world. But I think it was a measure of his generosity that he had time for even those who disagreed with him. I like to remember him not only as an major writer of the twentieth century but also as a humane individual who had encouraged an unknown young academic many years ago."

It is good to see that Vijayakumar T, in his tribute, mentions Preface to Kanthapura and Kanthapura in one breath. He also writes,

"The Meaning of India is valuable for me because it is an eminently teachable text—at least several essays in it. As many of us know, books that are good to read are not always amenable for teaching in a class room. But The Meaning of India proved to be one partly because of its aphoristic style. Formulations such as "India is not a country (desa), it is a perspective (darsana)" and "it is not the Indian who makes India but 'India' makes the Indian" remained with the students long after they may have forgotten the argument leading to these conclusions."

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Real Thing of Everything

2007-10-05T10:22:00.000+05:30

A devotee once asked Sri Ramana Maharshi, "Is there any psychic effect in visiting sacred places like Mt. Kailash, Benaras, etc.?"

"Yes"

"Is there any benefit accruing by dying in Benaras?"

"Yes. The meaning will be clear if the real Benaras and real dying are understood."

The devotee was silent in front of Silence.

The above conversation is mentioned in the book Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. There are many other Maharshi's books made available for downloads here.

The same theme is touched in Raja Rao's On the Ganga Ghat, and is elaborated and extended to many other related areas by Osho in Hidden Mysteries, which is available for online reading in this website.

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I am not Okay - You are Okay

2007-10-04T12:30:00.000+05:30

Nirmal Shekar flogs Sreesanth for his behavior in the second one-day international match between India and Australia. It is quite irritating to see aggressive and belligerent nature in the field of sports; especially when it is directed against opponents. It is one thing to boost your fighting spirits on your own and another thing to encourage your spirits by spraying venom on opponents. There is nothing called "there is a limit to aggression shown on others". Who will then decide the limit? The winners?

Nirmal Shekar implies sledging at right time is a mark of great champions!!! Ha..Ha.. You can call that as my wild imagination and feel logic is stretched too much there. You either condemn all sledging or support it wholeheartedly. There is nothing in that article about sledging by Australians - maybe they sledge professionally!! Anyway is it boring? Ask the media.

BBC writes In truth, India only matched Australia in the verbal exchanges and general posturing, which further marred a forgettable game of cricket.

Why do people then criticize only Sreesanth? Is it a case of "I am not Okay - You are Okay"?

Thanks Manu for bringing this article to my attention.

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Womb, Matrix, and List

2007-10-04T11:44:00.000+05:30

J. J. Sylvester coined the term "matrix" in 1848. But what is the etymon of matrix?

From Online etymological dictionary:

matrix 1373, from O.Fr. matrice, from L. matrix (gen. matricis) "pregnant animal," in L.L. "womb," also "source, origin," from mater (gen. matris) "mother." Sense of "place or medium where something is developed" is first recorded 1555; sense of "embedding or enclosing mass" first recorded 1641. Logical sense of "array of possible combinations of truth-values" is attested from 1914.

How is womb connected to matrix? In the sense of origin? Or in the sense of source?

But wait, there is another word - matriculate. The etymon is matriculare - to register; to create a list. Could it be possible that Sylvester had coined matrix from matriculare? I do not know. Incidentally, the online etymological dictionary attributes the confusion to translation from Greek to Latin.

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Math in Blog Posts

2007-10-02T16:48:00.000+05:30

It is always a challenging task to render equations in web browsers. There are so many latex-to-html converters. The latex code is converted to an image file to be embedded into the html page. There are then MathML standards. The question comes next is if the browser is MathML compatible. I am not sure if blogspot supports latex. Do let me know if anyone says yes. I have just come to know that wordpress supports latex code though it uses the same trick of converting the code into an image. We need not do any conversion. Just write the latex code as follows:

$latex this-is-my-latex$

Insert this into the code of your post. It's done. You can also change the background and foreground colors of latex rendition as well as the size.

To change colors: $latex this-is-my-latex&bg=cc0000&fg=ffffff$

To change the size: $latex this-is-my-latex&s=3$

For more details, visit this page.

I told this feature to my friend Hariharan. He immediately tested it and was quite happy though he felt MathML is the key to math-rendition on the web. The tools are still under development for MathML, and browser compatibility standard is the key issue. You may also see this google gadget - equation editor (to convert latex code to an image)

Addenda

I was wondering how it had come to my mind the possibility of using latex in wordpress. I now remember the spark(!) came after seeing these posts of Mogadalai and Terence Tao. I then checked the wordpress help. Though I have been reading their blogs for quite sometime, the spark(!) gets initiated only when the time is right!!!!!!! Thanks.

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Truth - Relative and Absolute

2007-10-02T16:16:00.000+05:30

... But I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded be my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it. But as long as I have not realized this Absolute Truth, so long must I hold by the relative truth as I have conceived it. That relative truth must, meanwhile, be my beacon, my shield and buckler...

- Mahatma Gandhi (from this wonderful site)

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Vishy Anand is World Chess Champion

2007-09-30T15:54:00.000+05:30

Viswanathan Anand remained unbeaten and scored 9 points out of 14 with four wins in the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico to become the undisputed World Chess Champion.

(photo courtesy: Susan Polgar's blog, Official site of WCC 07)

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14th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-30T15:45:00.000+05:30

Svidler defeats Grischuk and Kramnik beats Aronian in the fourteenth round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Peter Svidler - Alexander Grischuk (1 - 0)

Viswanathan Anand - Peter Leko (0.5 - 0.5)

Alexander Morozevich - Boris Gelfand (0.5 - 0.5)

Vladimir Kramnik - Levon Aronian (1 - 0)

Points after fourteen rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 9/14

Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 8/14

Alexander Morozevich (2758): 6/14

Peter Leko (2751): 7/14

Levon Aronian (2750): 6/14

Peter Svidler (2735): 6.5/14

Boris Gelfand (2733): 8/14

Alexander Grischuk (2726): 5.5/14

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12th and 13th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-29T06:38:00.000+05:30

Three decisive results in the twelfth round, and one in the thirteenth round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

12th round results

Peter Svidler - Viswanathan Anand (0.5 - 0.5)

Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Leko (1 - 0)

Alexander Morozevich - Alexander Grischuk (1 - 0)

Levon Aronian - Boris Gelfand (0 - 1)

13th round results

Levon Aronian - Peter Svidler (0.5 - 0.5)
Boris Gelfand - Vladimir Kramnik (0.5 - 0.5)
Peter Leko - Alexander Morozevich (1 - 0)
Alexander Grischuk - Viswanathan Anand (0.5 - 0.5)

Points after thirteen rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 8.5/13
Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 7/13
Alexander Morozevich (2758): 5.5/13
Peter Leko (2751): 6.5/13
Levon Aronian (2750): 6/13
Peter Svidler (2735): 5.5/13
Boris Gelfand (2733): 7.5/13
Alexander Grischuk (2726): 5.5/13

14th (last) round pairings

Anand needs atleast a draw in the last round to win this championship.

Peter Svidler - Alexander Grischuk
Viswanathan Anand - Peter Leko
Alexander Morozevich - Boris Gelfand
Vladimir Kramnik - Levon Aronian

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11th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-26T08:16:00.000+05:30

Anand beats Morozevich in the eleventh round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Boris Gelfand - Peter Svidler (0.5 - 0.5)

Peter Leko - Levon Aronian (0.5 - 0.5)

Alexander Grischuk - Vladimir Kramnik (0.5 - 0.5)

Viswanathan Anand - Alexander Morozevich (1 - 0)

Points after eleven rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 7.5/11

Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 5.5/11

Alexander Morozevich (2758): 4.5/11

Peter Leko (2751): 5.5/11

Levon Aronian (2750): 5.5/11

Peter Svidler (2735): 4.5/11

Boris Gelfand (2733): 6/11

Alexander Grischuk (2726): 5/11

12th round pairings

Today is a free day at the world championship. The twelfth round matches will be played on September 27, 2007.

Peter Svidler - Viswanathan Anand
Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Leko
Alexander Morozevich - Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian - Boris Gelfand

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10th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-25T08:19:00.000+05:30

Aronian defeats Grischuk in the tenth round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Peter Svidler - Alexander Morozevich (0.5 - 0.5)

Vladimir Kramnik - Viswanathan Anand (0.5 - 0.5)

Levon Aronian - Alexander Grischuk (1 - 0)

Boris Gelfand - Peter Leko (0.5 - 0.5)

Points after ten rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 6.5/10
Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 5/10
Alexander Morozevich (2758): 4.5/10
Peter Leko (2751): 5/10
Levon Aronian (2750): 5/10
Peter Svidler (2735): 4/10
Boris Gelfand (2733): 5.5/10
Alexander Grischuk (2726): 4.5/10

11th round pairings

Boris Gelfand - Peter Svidler
Peter Leko - Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk - Vladimir Kramnik
Viswanathan Anand - Alexander Morozevich

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9th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-24T07:57:00.000+05:30

Morozevich defeats Kramnik, and Grischuk beats Gelfand in the ninth round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Peter Leko - Peter Svidler (0.5 - 0.5)

Alexander Grischuk - Boris Gelfand (1 - 0)

Viswanathan Anand - Levon Aronian (0.5 - 0.5)

Alexander Morozevich - Vladimir Kramnik (1 - 0)

Points after nine rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 6/9

Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 4.5/9

Alexander Morozevich (2758): 4/9

Peter Leko (2751): 4.5/9

Levon Aronian (2750): 4/9

Peter Svidler (2735): 3.5/9

Boris Gelfand (2733): 5/9

Alexander Grischuk (2726): 4.5/9

10th round pairings

Peter Svidler - Alexander Morozevich
Vladimir Kramnik - Viswanathan Anand
Levon Aronian - Alexander Grischuk
Boris Gelfand - Peter Leko

________________________

8th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-22T14:25:00.000+05:30

Leko defeats Grischuk in the eighth round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Peter Svidler - Vladimir Kramnik (0.5 - 0.5)
Levon Aronian - Alexander Morozevich (0.5 - 0.5)
Boris Gelfand - Viswanathan Anand (0.5 - 0.5)
Peter Leko - Alexander Grischuk (1 - 0)

Points after eight rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 5.5/8
Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 4.5/8
Alexander Morozevich (2758): 3/8
Peter Leko (2751): 4/8
Levon Aronian (2750): 3.5/8
Peter Svidler (2735): 3/8
Boris Gelfand (2733): 5/8
Alexander Grischuk (2726): 3.5/8

9th round pairings

Today is a free day at the world championship. The ninth round matches will be played on September 23, 2007.

Peter Leko - Peter Svidler
Alexander Grischuk - Boris Gelfand
Viswanathan Anand - Levon Aronian
Alexander Morozevich - Vladimir Kramnik

______________________________

Chessy Masala Dosa and Stretchy Mangalooru Bajji

2007-09-22T01:19:00.000+05:30

I am following the World Chess Championship 2007 in spite of confusing rules of FIDE to determine the next world champion. Anand and others say the format is biased and designed to suit Russian (Kramnik) and Bulgarian (Topalov) lobbies. Anand also says that he does not want to dip inside the muddled waters of FIDE politics. He rather concentrates on chess matches. So far so good. When you follow a chess match, you have to participate in the process. Imagine watching a live chess match without any thoughts. It is not possible. You have to think about it. But if you think it is as good as you are playing. Not like other sports where you can watch live without doing anything that is connected with those sports. I watched Yuvraj's six sixers. But I did not feel the physical effort involved in that power hitting - meaning there is no pain or strain on my shoulders. Leave the mental efforts alone.

Now what am I writing...

I am supposed to write about masala dosa and mangalooru bajji.

Where is the link?

The link is the Janatha Hotel, 8th cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore.

I am sitting here in the hotel and thinking about what are the differences between watching chess live and watching other sports like cricket, hockey, football, etc live.

I am waiting for my masala dosa. It is surprising. Surprising to see people wait outside the hotel. You think there is no surprise about that as far Janatha Hotel is concerned? Surprising to see people wait outside when the hotel is closed. Ah! that's something, isn't it?

The hotel opens at 4pm. People wait from 3:30pm.

People?

A husband, A wife, and their small girl who asks sambar for Masala dosa which is not given at the hotel. Pay extra for extra sambar.

Two ladies with newly bought something.

Two girls who swallow mangalooru bajjis as fast as they send SMS.

An old man who sips coffee and thinks about good old days.

A girl who is carrying and is thinking possibly about the kid that is shaping up.

Two grandmothers with their grand-daughters eating some sweets which are possibly banned at home.

All these people are united. United to taste the time-tested Janata servings.

And what am I doing now? I am supposed to think about differences between watching a chess match and a cricket game. But here I am. Sitting and watching Janata's Janata.

Masala Dosa emerges just in front of me. Crispy and slightly sticky too. Pudina leaves are floating on the chutney. The chutney seems to be watery but it is not. You just dip your finger to feel the solid sediments of chutney.

I unroll the dosa to see the beauty of potato masala and grey chutney talking to each other on the crispy grass of masala dosa. I envy them. What is better than discussing chess with potato masala?

Small piece of dosa along with solid sediments of white chutney rolled together and meet their destiny in my mouth. I am watching ...

Chess is such a beautiful game that you do not mind losing yourself. Not just losing yourself but getting lost. I still remember a chess game I played with my friend in Tambaram bus stand. Without a board. How?

e4
e5
Nf3
Nf6

We played and pushed the game to its middle. We then found it quite difficult to analyse the position without board. Board is the substratum. Just like our experiences with relationships are to understand ourselves.

Where am I?

Who has eaten my Masala Dosa?

I must have achieved that in no time - much faster than how Anand plays a double knight Ruy Lopez variation.

Some say - Do not play Catalan against Kramnik. Sicilian against Kasparov, etc. But I play Mangalooru Bajji next.

Four small balls come. Elastic balls. Quite hot. Quite crispy. When I went to Mangalooru I asked Mangalooru bajji. They brought something quite different. I thought this is similar to how Hosur road, somewhere in its path, transforms itself to Bengalooru Road.

The small girl sitting opposite does not want to come out. The mother insists. But the girl moves between the table and the bench. The girl is quite happy with the masala dosa.

I am also happy with my dosa and bajjis. What next?

What will happen to this blog? How do I want to continue this? Chess statistics? Personal rants? Why I have to continue this? What is the big deal in saying I maintain a blog?

Hahahahhaa.....Hahahahhh.....

Two old men are laughing loudly.

Where are we?

Did I write "why I have to continue this blog"? No. It can't be true. Did I write that?

Masala Dosa is nice. Bajji is good. Something is still incomplete. Feeling of incompletion and feeling of something more might have created those words. Not me.

This is the right time to drink Janata Coffee.

_________________________________

7th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-21T11:01:00.000+05:30

Anand beats Grischuk in the seventh round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Peter Svidler - Levon Aronian (0.5 - 0.5)

Vladimir Kramnik - Boris Gelfand (0.5 - 0.5)

Alexander Morozevich - Peter Leko (0.5 - 0.5)

Viswanathan Anand - Alexander Grischuk (1 - 0)

Points after seven rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 5/7

Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 4/7

Alexander Morozevich (2758): 2.5/7

Peter Leko (2751): 3/7

Levon Aronian (2750): 3/7

Peter Svidler (2735): 2.5/7

Boris Gelfand (2733): 4.5/7

Alexander Grischuk (2726): 3.5/7

8th round pairings

Peter Svidler - Vladimir Kramnik

Levon Aronian - Alexander Morozevich

Boris Gelfand - Viswanathan Anand

Peter Leko - Alexander Grischuk

__________________________

6th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-20T07:16:00.000+05:30

Gelfand joins Anand at the top by defeating Morozevich in the sixth round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Alexander Grischuk - Peter Svidler (0.5 - 0.5)

Peter Leko - Viswanathan Anand (0.5 - 0.5)

Boris Gelfand - Alexander Morozevich (1 - 0)

Levon Aronian - Vladimir Kramnik (0.5 - 0.5)

Points after six rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 4/6

Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 3.5/6

Alexander Morozevich (2758): 2/6

Peter Leko (2751): 2.5/6

Levon Aronian (2750): 2.5/6

Peter Svidler (2735): 2/6

Boris Gelfand (2733): 4/6

Alexander Grischuk (2726): 3.5/6

7th round pairings

Peter Svidler - Levon Aronian

Vladimir Kramnik - Boris Gelfand
Alexander Morozevich - Peter Leko
Viswanathan Anand - Alexander Grischuk

_____________________________

6th round pairings - Corrections made

2007-09-20T00:46:00.000+05:30

The official site has changed the sixth round pairings from that of earlier pairings. The new pairings are as follows:

Alexander Grischuk - Peter Svidler
Peter Leko - Viswanathan Anand
Boris Gelfand - Alexander Morozevich
Levon Aronian - Vladimir Kramnik
_____________________________

5th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-19T08:33:00.000+05:30

Three decisive results in the fifth round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico: Anand defeats Svidler, Gelfand beats Aronian, and Grischuk scores a full point against Morozevich.

Viswanathan Anand - Peter Svidler (1 - 0)

Alexander Grischuk - Alexander Morozevich (1 - 0)

Peter Leko - Vladimir Kramnik (0.5 - 0.5)

Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian (1 - 0)

Points after five rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 3.5/5
Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 3/5
Alexander Morozevich (2758): 2/5
Peter Leko (2751): 2/5
Levon Aronian (2750): 2/5
Peter Svidler (2735): 1.5/5
Boris Gelfand (2733): 3/5
Alexander Grischuk (2726): 3/5

6th round pairings

Peter Svidler - Levon Aronian

Vladimir Kramnik - Boris Gelfand

Alexander Morozevich - Peter Leko

Viswanathan Anand - Alexander Grischuk

_____________________________

4th round results - WCC 07

2007-09-17T07:37:00.000+05:30

Aronian scores full point against Leko in the fourth round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Peter Svidler - Boris Gelfand (0.5 - 0.5)

Levon Aronian - Peter Leko (1 - 0)

Vladimir Kramnik - Alexander Grischuk (0.5 - 0.5)

Alexander Morozevich - Viswanathan Anand (0.5 - 0.5)

Points after four rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 2.5/4

Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 2.5/4

Alexander Morozevich (2758): 2/4

Peter Leko (2751): 1.5/4

Levon Aronian (2750): 2/4

Peter Svidler (2735): 1.5/4

Boris Gelfand (2733): 2/4

Alexander Grischuk (2726): 2/4

5th round pairings

Today is a free day at the world championship. The fifth round matches will be played on September 18, 2007.

Viswanathan Anand - Peter Svidler

Alexander Grischuk - Alexander Morozevich

Peter Leko - Vladimir Kramnik

Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian

____________________________

3rd Round results - WCC 07

2007-09-16T04:30:00.000+05:30

Morozevich defeats Svidler in the third round of the World Chess Championship 2007, Mexico.

Alexander Morozevich - Peter Svidler (1 - 0)
Viswanathan Anand - Vladimir Kramnik (0.5 - 0.5)
Alexander Grischuk - Levon Aronian (0.5 - 0.5)
Peter Leko - Boris Gelfand (0.5 - 0.5)

Points after three rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792): 2/3
Vladimir Kramnik (2769): 2/3
Alexander Morozevich (2758): 1.5/3
Peter Leko (2751): 1.5/3
Levon Aronian (2750): 1/3
Peter Svidler (2735): 1/3
Boris Gelfand (2733): 1.5/3
Alexander Grischuk (2726): 1.5/3

4th round pairings:

Peter Svidler - Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian - Peter Leko
Vladimir Kramnik - Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Morozevich - Viswanathan Anand
________________________________

2nd Round results - WCC 07

2007-09-15T08:30:00.000+05:30

Anand wins the match against Aronian while Kramnik defeats Morozevich in the second round of the World Chess Championship 2007.

Peter Svidler - Peter Leko (0.5 - 0.5)

Boris Gelfand - Alexander Grischuk (0.5 - 0.5)

Levon Aronian - Viswanathan Anand (0 - 1)

Vladimir Kramnik - Alexander Morozevich (1 - 0)

Current standings after two rounds

Viswanathan Anand (2792) - 1.5/2

Vladimir Kramnik (2769) - 1.5/2

Peter Svidler (2735) - 1/2

Boris Gelfand (2733) - 1/2

Peter Leko (2751) - 1/2

Alexander Grischuk (2726) - 1/2

Alexander Morozevich (2758) - 0.5/2

Levon Aronian (2750) - 0.5/2

___________________________

1st Round results - WCC 07

2007-09-14T08:47:00.001+05:30

All matches are drawn in the first round of World Chess Championship 2007.

Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Svidler (0.5 - 0.5)

Alexander Morozevich - Levon Aronian (0.5 - 0.5)

Viswanathan Anand - Boris Gelfand (0.5 - 0.5)

Alexander Grischuk - Peter Leko (0.5 - 0.5)

The world championship coverage internet links are collected by Susan Polgar here. The schedule is available here.

World Championship Chess Matches

2007-09-14T00:04:00.000+05:30

You can follow matches live in the official website here. For Susan Polgar's live commentary, visit her blog.

_______________________

World Chess Championship 2007 - The Schedule

2007-09-13T23:14:00.000+05:30

The match begins at 14:00h local time. Add 10:30 to get IST i.e., for instance, the first round matches begin at Sept. 14th 2007, 00:30h IST.

Round 1: Thursday, Sept. 13th 2007, 14:00h

Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Svidler
Alexander Morozevich - Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand - Boris Gelfand
Alexander Grischuk - Peter Leko

Round 2: Friday, Sept. 14th 2007, 14:00h

Peter Svidler - Peter Leko
Boris Gelfand - Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian - Viswanathan Anand
Vladimir Kramnik - Alexander Morozevich

Round 3: Saturday, Sept. 15th 2007, 14:00h

Alexander Morozevich - Peter Svidler
Viswanathan Anand - Vladimir Kramnik
Alexander Grischuk - Levon Aronian
Peter Leko - Boris Gelfand

Round 4: Sunday, Sept 16th 2007, 14:00h

Peter Svidler - Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian - Peter Leko
Vladimir Kramnik - Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Morozevich - Viswanathan Anand

Round 5: Tuesday, Sept. 18th 2007, 14:00h

Viswanathan Anand - Peter Svidler
Alexander Grischuk - Alexander Morozevich
Peter Leko - Vladimir Kramnik
Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian

Round 6: Wednesday, Sept. 19th 2007, 14:00h

Peter Svidler - Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik - Boris Gelfand
Alexander Morozevich - Peter Leko
Viswanathan Anand - Alexander Grischuk

Round 7: Thursday, Sept. 20th 2007, 14:00h

Alexander Grischuk - Peter Svidler
Peter Leko - Viswanathan Anand
Boris Gelfand - Alexander Morozevich
Levon Aronian - Vladimir Kramnik

Round 8: Friday, Sept. 21st 2007, 14:00h

Peter Svidler - Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian - Alexander Morozevich
Boris Gelfand - Viswanathan Anand
Peter Leko - Alexander Grischuk

Round 9: Sunday, Sept. 23th 2007, 14:00h

Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Svidler
Alexander Morozevich - Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand - Boris Gelfand
Alexander Grischuk - Peter Leko

Round 10: Monday, Sept. 24th 2007, 14:00h

Peter Svidler - Peter Leko
Boris Gelfand - Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian - Viswanathan Anand
Vladimir Kramnik - Alexander Morozevich

Round 11: Tuesday, Sept. 25th 2007, 14:00h

Alexander Morozevich - Peter Svidler

Viswanathan Anand - Vladimir Kramnik
Alexander Grischuk - Levon Aronian
Peter Leko - Boris Gelfand

Round 12: Thursday, Sept 27th 2007, 14:00h

Peter Svidler - Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian - Peter Leko
Vladimir Kramnik - Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Morozevich - Viswanathan Anand

Round 13: Friday, Sept. 28th 2007, 14:00h

Viswanathan Anand - Peter Svidler
Alexander Grischuk - Alexander Morozevich
Peter Leko - Vladimir Kramnik
Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian

Round 14: Saturday, Sept. 29th 2007, 14:00h

Peter Svidler - Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik - Boris Gelfand
Alexander Morozevich - Peter Leko
Viswanathan Anand - Alexander Grischuk

Sunday, Sept. 30th 2007
Possible tiebreaks, closing ceremony

__________________________

Man Booker Prize 2007 - six novels shortlisted

2007-09-06T22:11:00.000+05:30

The six novels shortlisted are:

Darkmans by Nicola Barker
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Animal’s People by Indra Sinha

The discussion forum at the official site is here.
_____________________________

World Chess Championship 2007

2007-09-06T21:50:00.000+05:30

The FIDE World Chess Championship 2007 will be held in Mexico City, from September 12, 2007 to September 30, 2007. The format is eight-player double round robin where each player plays every other player twice.

The eight players are,

Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)
Viswanathan Anand (India)
Peter Svidler (Russia)
Alexander Morozevich (Russia)
Péter Lékó (Hungary)
Boris Gelfand (Israel)
Levon Aronian (Armenia)
Alexander Grischuk (Russia)

The official site of the World Championship is here.

___________________________

Expression of Beauty

2007-09-05T12:19:00.000+05:30

It was a classroom. The sixth standard classroom. The mathematics teacher was strolling. From left to right. After few cycles, from front to back. He had given an exercise to the students. Two, in fact. One was an algebra problem and the other was a geometrical construction. The eyes of the students were showing the signs of fear, excitement, joy, tension, wonder, etc. depending upon the mind to which they belonged. But the teacher was ruthless.

If he saw something silly, he would stop and give a special treatment of impulse-strike, aided by his strong knuckles, on the head. He was sincere in trying to explain things. You had to tell him that you did not understand. He would explain. Again tell him that you did not understand. He would explain. Again tell him that you did not understand. He was quite patient. He would explain again. Explain again and again. Tell him you had understood and do a simple and silly mistake. You would then know what others were always saying - that he was a good volley-ball player. The only thing was the hit would leave a mark on your head.

He was interested in answers as well as how it was written (algebra) and drawn (geometry construction). The line that comes between numerator and denominator would often become a line that brings you either good pat or hit. The circles and lines should be circles and lines of same thickness. If you were going to draw a line second time to get good impression, you better do it for that line completely. If some portion of the line had more strokes than the other, the stroke you left would emerge on your head or palm.

Once a parent came and asked him in front of us, why did he reduce some marks though their son had correctly constructed the geometrical object. He said,

"Mathematics is a beautiful subject. When you write about such a beautiful subject, there is no place for any ugliness there. Whether you write or talk or communicate or learn, you have to do justice to the beauty of the content. You have to discipline yourself to appreciate the subject. Just knowing how to construct will not do. It is not enough for me."

That was Chandran Sir.

I did not understand completely then. That was the age where you would associate beauty to visuals and sounds; not to few symbols and their meanings. Those words and their contents have grown along various directions over a period of time destroying the artificial markings of human exploration. They go beyond subjects and ideas. Stressing the importance of how you could express something beautiful in a beautiful manner is such a wonderful feeling to pass it on to the next generation.

I liked him then. I like him now.

Happy Teachers' day.

_________________________

Dr. Rangaswamy Narasimhan is no more ...

2007-09-04T11:28:00.000+05:30

Dr. Rangaswamy Narasimhan, the designer of India’s first general purpose digital computer, died in Bangalore yesterday.

He played a crucial role in institutional development - Computer Science and Technology Lab at TIFR, Computer Society of India, Computer Maintenance Corporation (CMC), and National Center for Software Technology.

____________________________

Patenting Traditional Knowledge Components

2007-09-04T10:52:00.000+05:30

What should India do when patents are granted to traditional knowledge components? We normally listen to the lament that our documentation of our traditional knowledge is poor, and hence we are losing out in the present age of patenting anything and everything.

But Rajesh Kochchar argues,

India’s strategy on patents arising out of traditional knowledge has been flawed. It has been focusing on proving that we have documentation for our TK (Traditional Knowledge). Much of India’s own TK must necessarily be unrecorded. Even where records exist, they were meant not as a legally rigorous treatise, but as an aid to oral transmission. Digitisation of TK can only prevent granting of frivolous patents, which, even if left alone, can neither benefit the “inventor” nor harm India. Digitisation may in fact act as an aid to researchers eyeing Indian TK as a guide to focused lab work.

India’s approach towards TK should be proactive rather than defensive. Instead of acting as a documentation assistant for others, it should molecularise its own tradition in healthcare and benefit therefrom under the present patent regime. Most of TK resides in the third world countries and is largely undocumented. India should evolve a strategy that can be adopted by other countries as well. Instead of trying to convince petty U.S. officials that our TK is indeed documented, India should try to work towards evolving a world consensus on the patentability of results of lab research which uses TK as the starting point.

_______________________________

Book Search Engines

2007-09-03T11:49:00.000+05:30

Pradeep Sebastian writes about buying books - used, out-of-print, rare, first editions, etc - on the internet. The following is the list of websites mentioned in the article.

Alibris
Biblio
Abebooks
Bibliopoly
Bibliophile
Biblion
TomFolio
BookFinder (for price comparison as well)
AddALL (for price comparison as well)

_____________________________

Pretensions

2007-08-21T16:32:00.000+05:30

When did "passion-for-tamil" become synonymous with writing-tamil-fallaciously? I have recently seen the following words in a poster that invites people to attend some conference organized by self-professed only-tamil-correct-or-not people.

The words are ஆகத்து (aagaththu) and புத்துணற்சி (puththuNaRchi).

The first word is Tamil equivalent(?!!) for August and the second word is supposed to be புத்துணர்ச்சி which means "refreshing feelings", "new perception", etc.

_________________________

True Sense - Root - Etymon

2007-08-21T11:05:00.000+05:30

When I was searching for an online etymology dictionary, I got this link. It is surprising to know that Anaconda can be traced (one of the branches) to a Tamil word. Do visit this page to know more about it. It was also not mentioned in this article of my friend where he wrote about few words that have travelled from Tamil to other languages.

____________________________

Chomsky's Thesis Draft

2007-08-12T17:25:00.000+05:30

Noam Chomsky's thesis draft, "The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory" is available here. You have to register to download. The file size is quite big - full version: 436MB, zipped version: 380MB.

Link:
Noam Chomsky's website

Gian-Carlo Rota's 10 lessons

2007-08-10T11:33:00.000+05:30

Kovailputhalvan has sent me this link to Gian-Carlo Rota's 10 lessons of an MIT Education. Thanks Kovaiputhalvan.

Few snippets from those 10 lessons:

--- Students join forces on the problem sets, and some students benefit more than others from these weekly collective efforts. The most brilliant students will invariably work out all the problems and let other students copy, and I pretend to be annoyed when I learn that this has happened. But I know that by making the effort to understand the solution of a truly difficult problem discovered by one of their peers, students learn more than they would by working out some less demanding exercise.

--- Half a century ago, the philosopher Gilbert Ryle discussed the difference between "knowing how" courses are those in mathematics, the exact sciences, engineering, playing a musical instrument, even sports. "Knowing what" courses are those in the social sciences, the creative arts, the humanities, and those aspects of a discipline that are described as having social value.

--- It is my theory that "knowing how" is revered because it can be tested.

(This knowing-how-and-knowing-what reminds me of Snow's Two Cultures!! Imprinting such "divisive" ideas on human psyche may not be good for education.)

--- The idea of genius elaborated during the Romantic Age (late 18th and 19th centuries) has done harm to education. It is demoralizing to give a young person role models of Beethoven, Einstein, and Feynman, presented as saintly figures who moved from insight to insight without a misstep. Scientific biographies often fail to give a realistic description of personality, and thereby create a false idea of scientific work.

--- Young people will correct any fantasies they have about genius. As they start doing research with their professors they learn another healthy lesson, namely, a professor may well behave like a fumbling idiot.

______________________

Spreading Film-making to Villages

2007-08-08T16:53:00.000+05:30

"After we screened the famous Bicycle Thieves to a group of farm labourers in a village near Thanjavur, a young boy, in response to our request for feedbacks, said the movie was never shot in the set, which is true." - says P.Thirunavukkarasu of the Tamil Nadu Documentary and Short Film Creators’ Association.

The Association teaches villagers the ABC of cinema - from cinematography to acting to editing to lighting. "We have conducted the five-day course in Tiruchi, Karur, Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram and Krishnagiri districts," he says.

But why? "Every village has a story to narrate, which is told best in visual medium. For, it helps the villagers, more comfortable with hand-held digicams than bigger gadgets, convey messages in their language and style, free of fear, inhibition, etc.," says Mr. Thirunavukkarasu.

He adds: "And, such documentation is cent per cent people’s history because they decide what, when and how to document. People tell their history and that too through a mass medium, which in this case is mass in every sense of the term."

(To read more, visit this page)

It is quite interesting to know that such courses have been conducted in villages. The association might also act as a facilitator to disseminate the works of people who attend their courses. But I could not find even the website of the association!!
_____________________________

Freedom To Create

2007-08-04T03:23:00.000+05:30

Ingmar Bergman says:

"Freedom under which we work is the basis. Nobody can come to me and say "do that"...I am my own master...These are our work. We must feel proud...The actors, the technicians, the cameraman...We all discuss.. All are involved..."

What would he do if someone came, and said, "this movie won't make money unless you put so and so in it instead of someone else."

"I'd ask him to go very quickly out of the studio... perhaps I would go."

(From this YouTube video)

Carnatic Concerts in Chennai

2007-08-03T19:27:00.000+05:30

For carnatic concerts' schedule in Chennai, listed for every month till January 2008, visit this page now, and then regularly to see the updates.
______________________

Del.icio.us

2007-08-03T18:37:00.000+05:30

Kovaiputhalvan told me about this web service on a rainy day. When I asked him to write the link, he immediately said, "One minute, I will send an SMS." We heartily laughed at our dependence on "new technology" while wiping few pleasant driblets of rain from our faces.

From Wikipedia:

The website del.icio.us (pronounced as "delicious") is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. The site was founded by Joshua Schachter in late 2003, and is now part of Yahoo!.

From the website:

del.icio.us is a collection of favorites - yours and everyone else's. You can use del.icio.us to:

Keep links to your favorite articles, blogs, music, reviews, recipes, and more, and access them from any computer on the web.
Share favorites with friends, family, coworkers, and the del.icio.us community.
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Sruti

2007-08-03T18:14:00.000+05:30

Sruti is India's leading monthly magazine, started in 1983, devoted to Indian classical music and dance.

Contact details:

The Sruti Foundation,
9, Cathedral Road,
Chennai - 600086, India.

Subscription details:

One year - Rs.360 (including postages) - in India.
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Present Quandary

2007-08-02T15:40:00.000+05:30

From a Times of India article whose abridged version is available here. The print edition article has something more. The title of the article in the print edition is also different: Future Funda

Skewed wealth distribution: “The richest 1% of all adults own 40% of all global assets. The richest 2% own 51% of all the assets in the world. And the richest 10% own 85%. The bottom half own barely 1% of the global assets.”

What about technology? What is the next big thing there? Frey feels that tomorrow’s cutting edge technology is most likely already there today. “For really revolutionary, cutting-edge technologies, the next big thing was invented 25 years ago. It takes long for people to adjust their lives and start using these revolutionary technologies,” he says. Look at the internet which was invented in 1969, 38 years ago. Or the cellphone which was invented in 1973. And ATM machines which were invented in 1939.

Auditing and Public Finance

2007-08-02T11:55:00.000+05:30

Himanshu Upadhyaya reviews the book:

Government Accountability and Public Audit: Re-engineering the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, B P Mathur; Eastern Book Corporation, Rs.495.

He says the book tackles the question,

Public audit of an organisation or individual by a statutory authority is proven to give teeth to enforcement. Why then has India's CAG failed to instill fear in the various government departments and enterprises it monitors?

From the review,

...Mathur goes into some history of public audit in India. Like other institutions of governance in India, the structure of Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IAAD) also has the colonial legacy stretching as back as 1858, when the East India company administration was taken over by the British government. Two years after that, the independent accounting offices of Bengal, Madras and Bombay presidencies were amalgamated into what came to be known as Auditor General. The subsequent Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935 enhanced the position of Auditor General, whose stature and independence was equated to a judge of a Federal Court...

...Such indifference to audit queries, objections and Inspection Reports emanate from the crippling constraint that audit officers do not have powers to summon officials to depose and adjudicate, writes Mathur. He cites the example of audit of the Westland Helicopter deal (1989-'90, where for audit officials to get the files related to the deal was a herculean task. Mathur's view is that if powers analogous to a Commission of Enquiry Act were extended to the CAG, it will give it more teeth and help in carrying out its investigations...

...Although, the final outcome of public audit - CAG's audit reports – are presented in legislature for discussions and Public Accounts Committee – as well as Committee on Public Undertakings – are constituted with an express purpose of follow up on them to ensure parliamentary financial controls, the relationship of CAG and Parliament itself has remained rather ambiguous. Enough parliamentary backing hasn't come forth in event of attacks from vested interests who find the audit reports unpalatable...

The issues become complex here. Power should not be vested with a group of government institutions - dependent or independent of functions of Parliament. Monitoring agencies are also accountable. The psychology of correcting others is so dominant that we conveniently forget, and ignore the thought, to correct ourselves. This is applicable to institutions and individuals.
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Shiraz

2007-08-01T15:46:00.000+05:30

I got to know about this movie from The Sydney Morning Herald while browsing Australian sites to know what they write about Dr. Haneef.

From New York Times:

Though of royal lineage, Selima (Enakashi Rama Rao) was an infant foundling raised by a kind potter and her adoptive brother, Shiraz (Himansu Rai). She is kidnapped and sold as a slave to Prince Khurram, who would later become Emperor Shah Jehan (Charu Roy). The prince falls for his beautiful slave girl, much to the consternation to dark-hearted schemer Dalia (Seeta Devi) who has her own plans for the prince. When Shiraz tracks down her beloved sibling, their tearful reunion ends after Shiraz is thrown in prison and sentenced to die. Only a pendant -- which proves Selima's royalty -- saves Shiraz's live. Selima marries Emperor Shah Jehan, becoming Empress Mumtaz Mahal. When she dies, the Emperor builds the Taj Mahal in her memory. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Links:

Himansu Rai
Franz Osten

Ingmar Bergman

2007-07-30T18:41:00.000+05:30

I had watched Wild Strawberries before. A friend of mine wanted to watch it for quite sometime. Never got the time and the mood to watch. We will never know why certain things are chosen to occur in a particular way. Today we thought of watching it. No, we did not watch it fully. But we had watched for sometime. We never knew that we were paying our homage to the film-maker Ingmar Bergman.

Ingmar Bergman has passed away today at the age of 89. I have also watched The Seventh Seal.

He has said,

"Film as dream, film as music. No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul."

"Anyone who makes films must have a goal before his eyes: namely, to try to get as close to the viewer as possible, to affect him as deeply as possible. What i call technique is knowing exactly how to affect the viewer. That's the crux of the matter. All the rest is secondary. And it is a matter of talent.."

"I want very much to tell, to talk about, the wholeness inside every human being. It's a strange thing that every human being has a sort of dignity or wholeness in him, and out of that develops relationships to other human beings, tensions, misunderstandings, tenderness, coming in contact, touching and being touched, the cutting off of a contact and what happens then."

Some links:

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Two Missions

2007-07-30T12:21:00.000+05:30

M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, in 1997, identified two major goals for the 60th anniversary commemoration.

1. Hunger-free India on the lines proposed by Mahatma Gandhi in 1946 at Naokhali

Over 200 million children, women, and men go to bed now partially hungry. Unfortunately, an integrated strategy is yet to be put in place with the result that the goal of a hunger-free India is nowhere near accomplishment.

2. Knowledge and skill empowerment of rural families with the help of information and communication technology

While connectivity can be achieved, content creation and capacity building will be the greatest challenges. The content has to be dynamic, demand driven, locale specific, and in local languages. As a single step, the rural knowledge revolution is likely to have the largest beneficial impact on the physical, economic, and social well-being of the more than 700 million people living in villages. Poverty will persist under conditions where the human resource is under-valued and material resources are over-valued.

(From this article by M. S. Swaminathan)

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Trust

2007-07-28T07:31:00.000+05:30

There are stories everywhere. Each story speaks to us in a personal tone. The narration and sequence of events are some of the important aspects of story-telling. Stories are built around beads of small events that are tied together. Those events may be communicated well but the thread that ties them up may not be strong. Sometimes events may look frivolous but the thread puts them in a different perspective. So possibilities are many. I am planning, plans are always planned to have a shorter life, to write short pieces on such events that have occurred in movies, novels, and short stories; events that can be taken out of the thread and can be seen as a separate bead that shows colors of emotional shades. It does not matter if events are from art or commercial movies (what an inaccurate classification), good or bad novels, cooked up or real (this is something different), etc.!!! Here we go.
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A husband creates a foundation to initiate many socially relevant projects. The foundation runs schools, colleges, and hospitals, to name a few. People are too happy to receive help from the foundation. The foundation becomes really a foundation to social changes.

But where is money coming from? Through legal or illegal means?

Investigators, Regulators, and Monitors suspect foul play. How to unearth the secrets?

Catch his wife - a soft, a law-abiding, and a law-fearing wife.

Police and others make her believe that if she could give them some proof of the foundation's source of income, then her husband could escape with mild punishment. Else?

What else? He has to pay a heavy price - his life; he is also in the hit list of many local criminals and politicians.

His wife thinks. She thinks again. She thinks again and again and again. And she decides to pass the laptop, which has all information about the source of money donated to the foundation, to investigation agencies.

Police and other government agencies come to his home to arrest him. He comes to know that his laptop has been given to them by his wife!

He could not believe it. Shocked; Shell shocked.

His parents start scolding his wife. What does he do? His future would possibly be doomed by this act of his wife. His name and fame would receive hits from all sides. What about his image? That would be smeared with black; black tar. Saving his face is the last thing he could expect.

What does he do?

Is he going to have vengeance against his wife? Is he going to scold her to start with? Is he going to mistrust? Does he feel betrayed?

He stops his parents from shouting at her and says, "If she had done this, she must have perceived that it would do some good to me. She will not do anything that would destroy me. She cannot do. Do not scold her."

Trust. This is it.

Apart from the trust he exhibits, it is his composure, that gathers energy and courage to say that 'I trust you' to his wife in such a situation, makes a good case to ponder trust, composure, courage in relationships.

(The situation is from the movie Sivaji - the Boss)

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Nutty Connections

2007-07-27T09:59:00.000+05:30

There are many theories - scientific, philosophical, and soporific - on causes and their effects. Causality. And its effect. Can one find the link between the two? While you are thinking about all these, just read this (via) :

The (ground nut) oil prices have gained 23 per cent since the beginning of this year. The problem with groundnut oil is that mills are not getting kernel for crushing.

What is the reason? Possible and feasible reason?

One of the reasons is rise in direct consumption, including as snacks, especially for liquor consumption.

Peanuts are preferred to be eaten during consumption of liquor as they are cheaper than cashewnuts. Also, rising income levels are seeing corresponding increase in consumption of almost all products, including liquor.

My friend, who applies loads of coconut oil on his head, face, hands, etc., thinks of writing a petition to the government for a ban to use coconut in the domains other than.. other than applying on one's own body!!!

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Rejection?

2007-07-26T11:58:00.000+05:30

Rejection is part of life.

Some of the famous rejection stories are (from here) :

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – 14 rejections
Jonathan Livingston Seagull – 18 rejections
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – 38 rejections
From rejection slip for George Orwell's Animal Farm: “It is impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.”
From rejection slip for article sent to the San Francisco Examiner to Rudyard Kipling: “I'm sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language."
From rejection slip for The Diary of Anne Frank: “The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the curiosity level.”

My Country and their prayer??

2007-07-13T11:45:00.000+05:30

Thus asked few Americans.

For the first time in its history, the 218-year US Senate opened its session on Thursday with recitation of Hindu prayers. Hindu priest Rajan Zed, Director of Public Affairs and Interfaith Relations of Hindu Temple in Northern Nevada, recited the prayers. However, the prayer was marred by protests by a handful of persons, one of whom shouted "we are Christians and patriots." (from here)

Some reactions are quite interesting.

From here:

A prominent Christian historian and constitutional expert, David Barton, is expressing concern that the U.S. Senate will be opened up for the first time with a non-monotheistic prayer. David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto "One Nation Under God."

Barton says given the fact that Hindus are a tiny constituency of the American public, he questions the motivation of Senate leaders. "This is not a religion that has produced great things in the world," he observes. "You look at India, you look at Nepal -- there's persecution going in both of those countries that is gendered by the religious belief that is present there, and Hindu dominates in both of those countries."

(You can also have a look at many reader's comments.)

It cannot be the matter of pride for a religion, that has been around for tens of centuries and centuries, if its prayers are recited in a couple-of-hundreds old institution.

The most significant thing is to note these: reactions, the mode of reactions, and the ignorance and/or understanding.

The influence of religion on politics can never be underestimated; more so in this age of manipulation through media.

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BBC fined

2007-07-12T12:04:00.000+05:30

From Times Online:

The BBC was ordered to pay an unprecedented £50,000 fine today after asking a child from its Blue Peter studio audience to pose as the "fake" winner of a premium-rate telephone competition, in which 40,000 youngsters had participated.

In what was its first fine ever given to the corporation, the media regulator Ofcom issued a damning verdict stating that it was guilty of "deception" and of making the child "complicit" in its fraud.

“The breaches involved a pre-planned decision to fake a winner in the interests of ensuring the smooth running of a programme, and in doing so made a child complicit in events leading to the deception."

“There were also a series of serious and avoidable management and compliance failures before, during and after the breaches occurred.”

BBC response? From its press release:

We fully accept the seriousness of this case and apologise for the breach of trust with our audiences.

We regret that Ofcom found it necessary to impose a fine on the BBC.

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